The Fiftyfaces Podcast

Jen Choi is CEO of ILPA – the Institutional Limited Partners Association, where she has spent over a decade. She previously spent over 7 years at the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.Our conversation traces her background and her path to representing LPs and their interests in the fast-pace private asset arena. Our conversation has a strong emphasis on transparency – we open with a quote around sunlight being the best disinfectant.This takes us to a discussion about demystifying the often-opaque world of private assets, the evolution of the position of the LP and the current state of the pendulum in terms of where it is sitting. We hear about the evolving ILPA standards, getting buy-in across a global LP population and the importance of collective action as well as standardization.Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.comResolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

We are delighted to release as a bonus episode this conversation with long-time industry member, mentor and advocate Jennifer Strickland.  Over the course of Jennifer’s career she has held a series of roles starting out in the annuity space, moving into private wealth, hedge fund business development, alternative asset business development and most recently was Head of Business Development for Pretium, a $50 bn specialized asset manager focused on real estate, structured credit and legal opportunities. She is a Board Member of Women in Private Credit and an active advocate for mentorship and diversity within the financial services industry. Our conversation traces Jennifer's upbringing in Arizona, her early university career, and her first career at Morningstar which pushed her out of her comfort zone and into the limelight. I have always known Jennifer as an unparalleled business development and client service professional and we talk about what it takes to build relationships of trust and transparency, and the time that needs to be invested in these networks. We note the importance of networks and mentorship and the feedback loop of recognizing the wisdom and learnings that we pick up along the way,We move then to discuss Jennifer's cancer diagnosis in 2022 and Jennifer candidly and openly discusses the cascade of emotions that followed, from its effect on family and friends to what it means to have a career prematurely interrupted, with more work to do, more impact to make.  This deeply personal discussion is a reminder of what it is we live for, and what we leave in our wake. We are encouraged to appreciate what we have learned from others - what we  - how appreciating others' legacies is a step in ensuring our own.Today's podcast release coincides with the launch by Jennifer and her family of the Strickland Fellowship and Foundation, which honors her legacy by supporting the growth of Women in Private Credit and the next generation of private credit talent  through personalized mentorship, education and networking with the industry’s top investors and business leaders. You can read more about Women in Private Credit here: https://www.womeninpc.com/

Krishna Mohanraj, an International Portfolio Manager at Diamond Hill Capital Management, shares his unique journey from South India to the world of finance. He discusses how chance and adaptability shaped his career, emphasizing the undervalued power of teams in portfolio management. Krishna highlights the role of cognitive diversity and autonomy in remote teams, along with the importance of long-term thinking both in investing and personal growth. He also reflects on how his grandmother's love for learning inspired his educational values.

Debby Blakey is CEO of Hesta a $91 bn AUD Australian superannuation fund dedicated to the health and community services sector. She is also President of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors and a director of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). Our conversation traces Debby's personal and career journey from South Africa, where she did consulting work, to build a new life in Melbourne, and how she developed her network from scratch. We move then to her role at Hesta and how it has evolved, and spend some time discussing the unique positioning that Hesta holds, as well as putting the role of all Australian Superannuation Funds into context.We discuss why Hesta is a "Super with Impact" and dig in to how impact is defined, and how and why Hesta engages with its members. We talk about the challenges of the road ahead and how Hesta is preparing for its future journey. Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments.With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.comResolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

We are delighted to bring you Series 3 of our 2025 series, which we again are launching amid significant volatility in markets. However, as you will hear, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We start this series down under, hearing from Debby Blakey, CEO of Hesta, who describes what it means to be a “Super with Impact”, and a gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community.  We turn then to portfolio management, as Krishna Mohanraj of Diamond Hill talks about the power of the team, and how he approaches international investment, and then take the LP perspective, and chat with Jen Choi, CEO of ILPA, about the changing face of private equity and LP advocacy.  Stuart Dunbar of Baillie Gifford talks us through the changing shape of client engagement when it comes to large asset managers, while we dive into the topical issue of LGPS pension fund pooling with long-time LGPS fund leader, Jo Kempton of Lincolnshire Pension Fund. We are back to Diamond Hill with a fascinating interview with Henry Song, who explores the human side of finance and what we get wrong in competency interviews and moving then to the world of quantitative investing, Artemiza Woodgate lifts the veil on quantitative investing, and what we sometimes overlook. We stay somewhat in the world of quantitative investing in our interview with Kristen Van Gelder, who has spent her entire career tracing the evolution of hedge funds, and the relevance of hedge fund of fund solutions for client portfolios from her role at Evanston Capital Management. Then we pull the lens back, with Nick Spencer of Milliman who advocates for a systems thinking approach to risk when it comes to sustainability issues – and we explore what this means for the future of the investing style.  We end then coming full circle with our exploration of values-based investing with a wonderful interview with Lisa Laird, who is CIO of Mercy Investments Services, Inc. Thank you to GCM Grosvenor and Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. for sponsoring Series 3 of 2025.  GCM Grosvenor is a global alternative asset management firm with a longstanding commitment to supporting small, emerging, and diverse investment managers. For over 30 years, the firm has developed expertise in funding and guiding these managers as part of its broader activity across alternative investments. With over $20 billion in AUM dedicated to small and emerging managers and $16 billion in AUM dedicated to diverse managers, GCM Grosvenor leverages its experienced team, broad network, and proprietary sourcing capabilities to support their success. Through the Small, Emerging, and Diverse Manager Program, the firm creates opportunities for investors to access a wide range of talent while seeking to drive strong returns and impact. For more information, visit www.gcmgrosvenor.com Resolute Investment Managers, Inc. is a diversified, multi-affiliate asset management platform that partners with more than 30 best-in-class affiliated and independent investment managers. Its unique platform delivers strategic value through a full suite of distribution, operational and administrative services available to affiliates and partners.

Daniel Gore is a Founding Partner of Orthogonal Partners, a boutique asset manager investing in "next generation" alternative investment strategies.  He has had an extensive career in investing, including time spent in angel investing, in a family office and in film finance. He is currently pursuing opportunities in small and mid market UK firms.   Our conversation starts with the path that Dan took to this point, which included numerous different opportunities for learning – and we hear about the importance of trust and integrity as values that transcend different investment areas. Dan reflects on his unconventional career, gaining a broad understanding of different asset classes and the importance of backing the right teams. Moving now to Orthogonal partners, we speak about its range, and why it is a source of unconventional returns, and we discuss the structural funding gap in the UK SME market and the government's efforts to address it through the British Business Bank. We dive in to some details of the UK SME market, which presents a meaningful opportunity set with 5.6 million SMEs accounting for 99% of all businesses and 60% of private sector jobs.  We conclude with some reflections on the power of networking and the value of building relationships from the start of one's career. Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

Fernando Vinzons is Chief Investment Officer at the Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund, a role he has held for almost 3 years. He previously spent over 13 years at the Cook County Pension Fund and started his career in investment research. Our conversation starts with Fernando's initiation into stock picking, and how he earned the ropes pitching stock ideas to a legendary hedge fund manager. We move then to his move to an allocator role, and the entrepreneurial nature of his formative years, when resource constraints required the wearing of many hats.We move then to the Chicago Teachers Pension Plan and we discuss their diversity program in detail - we hear how the pension fund is leading the way in diversity, with over 51% of their portfolio managed by MWBE firms. The Fund's "First Look" program gives smaller investment firms a platform to showcase their talents and break through traditional industry barriers.  We discuss the benefit that this dialogue can create for these emerging managers who still struggle to get air time. Ending with advice and reflections, Fernando offers a reminder to stay calm, focus on long-term strategies, and remember that there's more to life than work stress. He also touts the benefit of travel to broaden the mind and offer more perspective. Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

Peter Wilson is Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, a private markets specialist firm with over $140 billion in assets across 14 offices. Peter has worked at HarbourVest for most of his career, in a series of roles, most recently as one of two members of the firm's Executive Management Committee which ran the firm from 2012 to 2024. In this broadranging discussion, Peter discusses his career journey and the firm's evolution as well as that of the private equity industry more broadly. We discuss the shift from standardized to bespoke investment strategies, catering to institutional and high net worth clients and some of the more derivative strategies that have emerged, such as secondaries, NAV lending and co-investments. We discuss the the importance of authenticity in leadership and why pushing outside one's comfort zone and taking on stretch challenges is so important to continue to grow in one's career. Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

Tom Doyle is Partner and Head of NAV Financing at Pemberton Asset Management, a role he has held for over three years. He previously held a similar role at 17Capital. Our conversation takes us on a tour through the evolution of private markets, the role of innovation in it and some of the dynamics that have driven NAV financing. We dig in to the evolving nature of client demand and understanding of some of these strategies and look to parallels such as the development of secondary markets in terms of the speed of acceptance and normalization of some private equity strategies.Moving then to career progression, Tom discusses some of the key figures who inspired him throughout his career, including some leaders who taught him how to analyze complex situations, and think critically. We end with the pursuit of excellence in delivery of client interactions, and the power to "elevate" every interaction, every pitch, every client experience.Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.

Cathy Bevan, Head of Structured Credit at Benefit Street Partners, shares her unexpected journey from mathematics to finance. She delves into the intricacies of structured credit, discussing its evolving role and potential in today’s market. Cathy emphasizes the importance of taking risks, mentorship, and personal growth while navigating a career in finance. She also addresses issues of diversity and inclusivity in the industry, reflecting on how personal experiences shape one’s professional path and the significance of enjoying the journey over merely reaching goals.